Each day in physical education, students focus on a skill they’ll use in middle school, high school and through their active life.
We usually start class with warmups. During this time, students move across the gym in a variety of ways, getting their bodies warmed up and ready for our day’s activity. These are not races, but kids do run in groups with other students. It’s simply a chance for kids to get used to moving in different ways, and at their own speed.
After warmups, we divide into groups for whatever activity we have scheduled for the day. Sometimes it’s partners, sometimes teams or groups of 3-5, and sometimes dividing the class into two teams. Once teams or groups are made, I describe the activity, and then let the kids go. If there are corrections that need to be made during the activity, we’ll stop and address the issue, then complete the game.
At the end, we usually have a minute or two to debrief the activity, then line up to return to class.
All activities have some aspect of scorekeeping, but we don’t emphasize winning or losing.